A federal judge sent a Mexican man in the country illegally to prison Wednesday for his role in a human smuggling operation that involved U.S. soldiers, authorities said.

Victoriano Zamora-Jasso, 54, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for supplying undocumented immigrants to an individual who worked with U.S. soldiers to smuggle them further into the country, according to the Department of Justice. Zamora-Jasso illegally resided in Houston and is expected to be deported soon.

Records show Zamora-Jasso was deported in 2013 but returned to Texas. He was indicted in 2016 and arrested last year near Houston.

In January, Zamora-Jasso pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport and harbor undocumented immigrants and illegal re-entry after deportation, officials said.

Officials said that between March and September 2014, Zamoria-Jasso took undocumented immigrants to Arnold Gracia, 48, who then made arrangements for the individuals to pass an internal U.S. checkpoint.

Four U.S. soldiers carried out the smuggling, authorities said, which occurred at an immigration checkpoint in Sarita. Brandon Troy Robbins, 24, of San Antonio, Eric Alexander Rodriguez, 25, of Odem, Yashira Perez-Morales, 28, of Watertown, N.Y., and Christopher David Wix, 24, of Abilene were convicted for their roles.

Officials said the four were recruited by Gracia when they were stationed at Fort Hood.

The soldiers hid individuals under military gear to transport them across the checkpoint, authorities said. They were sentenced in 2015 and 2016 along with Gracia.

The soldiers received probation and one to two years in prison while Gracia received 73 months in prison, officials said.